Paris in Fall...

Hey Hey Hey!!

Well, updates have been late in the making... sorry. It's not that we're too busy... hardly... these last few weeks have been particularly lazy. But Laziness leads more to random web-surfing rather than productive blogging time. Not to mention it takes lifetimes to upload photos... grrrr. That being said, we promised ourselves we'd get things up and recorded today, so here we go.

PARIS!!!

… was fantastic... amazing... perfect. The train ride into Paris wasn't nearly as crazy as we thought it was going to be. The strikes simply limited the number of trains coming into and leaving the city, so I guess the only evidence we really had of the strikes was a very FULL train. Neither Sean or I speak French, but we had picked up a phrase book for the Kindle that provided some help, and there are enough travelers from the UK that signs and menus were available in English. We arrived earlier than our check-in time, so we stuffed our packs into a luggage locker at the train station and started our usual walking tour of Paris.

I know most people shoot for vacation in the spring... come to Paris to see the flowers and enjoy the mild weather! Me, I'm most certainly an autumn girl, and France did not disappoint. The weather was brisk and cool, the trees lining the motorways were bright orange and yellows, and the Frenchy skyline and architecture all provided sexy-candy for the eyes. Sean and I in our own way have become counter-tourists... all the normal things that tourists like to go and see and do, we don't. And with Paris being one of the most expensive and exciting cities in Europe, there was plenty for us not to do ;) Pretty much we can sum up our time there as art, tea, espresso, cookin', and walkin'... and buttery boots (I'll explain later).

The apartment that we rented was great... only about a 10 min walk from Notre Dame cathedral, maybe 15 min from the Louvre, around the corner from the grocery store and an outdoor market, and just a stone's throw away from the best espresso in Paris. Unfortunately, it was also 5 stories up the stairs, so running back to get the wallet you left behind was a little bit of a bear. The other unfortunate, albeit minor, characteristic were the Death Stairs. Our unit was lofted with the bed hiding up on the “2nd floor”, and the narrow ladder-like steps over time had gradually acquired an unfortunate down-slope. So unless you were in bare feet, or your sock-feet were sufficiently sticky, there was a very real possibility of slipping and losing your teeth as your jaw met the landing. Luckily, nothing like this happened, but we were VERY careful.

So Art. There was some kind of huge modern art expo that week in Paris, and there were tents, galleries, art dealers, and artists scattered all throughout the city. That being said, we still spent a good deal of time at the Louvre. It's hard not to... it's pretty cheap as museum entry fees go, and the place is huge!!! I believe it's the largest palace in Europe, so there were plenty of galleries you could make your way around. The first time we went, we rented a couple audio guides and saw the Big Guns... Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and of course, the Mona Lisa. After a brief rest at the café, Sean and I then went our separate ways for a bit and did some solo museum time. The next time we went through the museum, Sean showed me around some of the French galleries he saw on his own. And of course, you can't neglect the rooms the art resided in... it is a palace after all.

We also sprung for tickets to the modern art expo, and spent most of the day wandering around the make-shift gallery. Check some of it out!

Tea. Another bonus of the apartment we rented was that it was about a 10 min walk from the original Mariage Fréres, an old and well-established Parisian tea house and shop. The menu was expensive, of course, so settled on pots of tea and scones... SOOOOOO very good. I love scones. I know there are some pretty exquisite sweety comfort foods in the world, but scones are right at the top of my list. And the warm, wonderful fruity biscuits they had were Yum Yum Yum. We went twice during our trip :D

Espresso. So Sean and I did a bit of jogging around Paris, and our way back from our first run, we came across Cafeoteque. It's just down the street towards the river, and then a bit of a walk to the right. OMG... can you say Espresso Cherry Bomb? I think you can. SO.. MUCH.. FRUIT in the middle of that shot! And for my not-totally-coffee-geeky friends, good espresso when done right with the right beans is Sweet. Not like candy sweet, but definitely a noticeable fruity sweetness is noted on the 2^nd sip of the shot (the first sip tends to be a little more bitter). If you need a Denver reference, Aviano espresso does this very well. And for Chicago, the folks down at Ingelligensia in the Loop made Sean some fantastic coffee as well (Aviano uses their roast in-house). Needless to say we got some French press finally ground to the right size to take on the road with us, and had a couple nice encounters there.

Cookin'. Forgot how much I enjoy cooking. Most of the places that we've stayed in thus far have had what they call City Kitchens... microscopic spaces with a sink, a mini-fridge, a couple hot plates, no sharp knives, and a few pieces of cookware, but based on the assumption that you are eating out a lot. Admittedly, our unit in Paris was a bit nicer, but mainly because this was someone's home, not just a rental property. But to tell you the truth, we did not eat out in Paris. I know, the Crime of the Century! We did crepes, we did bread, coffee, fancy tea, and other small delectable treats. And yes, even more cheese, and I'm still not having issues!! (Still confused on that one.) But cooking in was great. We'd made our way through the wine we bought in Anglet, got a few beers, and really, we were happy.

Walkin'. What else can I say... it's what we do. Check out the pics!

Butter Boots. Why butter? Well, it's Paris, the epicenter of the croissant, and because it's the only way to describe what the leather of these boots feel like. What kind of woman would I be without indulging in some fantastical, stupid fashion purchase in Paris? I have to admit that the women in Europe do put themselves together very nicely. It was really rare to see any woman, no matter what her age, not look like she put forward some kind of effort that morning. I first noticed it in Vienna, and Paris even more so. And it's not about hair or make-up... it was the clothes. Parisian women wear beautiful clothes with layers, textures, colors, and finish it off with very natural-looking face and hair. And it was fall, so it's ALLLLL about the boots. I think that was the biggest give-away that I was a tourist... no boots. None. And the ones I found fit my swollen midfood joint. Yeah!Don't worry. We've dolled Sean up the mean time too. ;)

So from Paris, it's Bonn, and a whole nutha' entry!